Big Pine & Bishop in the early 1900s

Here’s a story about the Utter family who came from Iowa and settled in Big Pine.
The Henry H. Utter family left Iowa and headed to California. About the 1890s they packed their belongings on a train and made a stop in San Bernardino, California. Finding that this was not where they wanted to be and after hearing about how green the Owens Valley, they decided to settle there.  They settled in Big Pine and began farming and raising their family. Henry and his wife Sarah Ellen (Embree) of their 13 children they brought 9 children to California. Henry was born 1839 in Indiana. He died 1931 and is in the Big Pine Cemetery. Sarah Ellen was born in 1841 in Indiana. She died in 1925 and is in the Big Pine Cemetery. Their children were:

1. William Ransome Utter was born in 1861 in Iowa and died in 1947 and is buried in Inglewood, California. He married Lillie Jane (Cramer). She was born in 1864 in Illinois and died in 1942 in San Bernardino, CA.
Their children were: William Edson born in 1893 in Iowa. His wife was Eva Mabel Crmean. He died in 1988 in Bishop, CA,
Elmer Ray Utter born in 1900 died in 1905 in Big Pine,
Leonard Jennings Utter born 1901 Big Pine, CA

2. Flora May Utter was born in 1864 died in 1947 in Hemet, CA
3. James H. Utter was born in 1865 in Iowa and died in 1892 in Tulare, CA
4. Frances Elizabeth Utter was born in 1867 in Iowa and died in 1870 in Iowa
5. Adron S. Utter was born in 1869in Iowa and died in 1893 in Iowa
6. Robert Ezekiel Utter was born 1871 Iowa died 1954 Bishop, CA
7. Charles H. Utter was born in 1874 in Iowa and died in 1874 in Iowa
8. Susan Elizabeth Utter was born in 1875 in Iowa and died in 1923 in Los Angeles, CA
9. Mary Comfort Utter was born in 1877 in Iowa and died in 1958 in San Bernardino, CA
10. Joseph Walter Utter was born in 1879 in Iowa and died in 1959 in Bishop, CA
11. John Chester Utter was born in 1881 in Iowa and died in 1946 in Bishop, CA
12. Sarah Ellen Utter was born in 1884 and died in 1904 in Big Pine, CA
13. Iva Nora Utter was born in 1887 in Iowa and died in 1968 in Sacramento, CA

From these children came many more who lived in the Owens Valley. My line comes from William Ransome and Lillie Jane above. My grandfather Leonard Jennings married Alice Bagley. Her family lived on a ranch in Bishop. They raised three sons: Leonard R. Utter, my dad, Roy G. Utter and Richard Neil Utter. They lived, went to school, played, went to church, hiked and fished the Big Pine Creek and hunted deer and other animals. I’ve heard many a story around a sage brush camp fire. My grandfather farmed and ranched. When Los Angeles took the water from the valley and the Watterson Bank took all their money ($75,000) that they never got back, they moved to Hawthorne, CA and started a new life.

Leonard J. Utter, 9yr - Big Pine CA
circa 1909